Pseudonyms - yes or no?

[MeriPie]

What do you reckon? If you get published (or indeed if you're already published) would you write under your own name? What would influence your decision? And what would you go for if you did choose a pseudonym?

Personally I think I'd have to go for a pseudonym, just because some of the jobs I'm considering after I graduate would probably not be too keen on a fantasy author being on their books... I don't know what I'd go for though, but something with initials. For one thing, I like how it looks, and for another I want to keep readers' gender perceptions out of the picture.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Real name, on everything I have had published and will have published. I have worked too long to get where I am, why should I be shy about "making it" in a small way as a writer.

I am proud of it.

 

[HareBrain]

I used to think I would use a pseudonym because I thought my real name sounded rubbish, and it would also place my book near the end of the shelf, but not quite close enough to the end to make the positioning valuable.

Is "Aaaron Aardvark" taken? Or I could just make it erotica and stick "Anonymous" on it.

Meripie, what kinds of jobs? Can we put two and two together and make MI Five?

 

[MeriPie]

Well translation/interpretation at exciting levels is gonna involve important people who'd probably be a bit unimpressed if they found their translator's name on a Sci-fi bookshelf.

But feel free to draw whatever conclusions you like

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I really don't think they would be likely to find your name on a science fiction bookshelf unless they were at the bookstore actively looking for science fiction. So, actually, they probably would be impressed. If they found out in other ways, that could be a problem -- or not.

I am, at this time, writing under a pseudonym, for reasons I won't go into here because I've written about them before -- basically, it was necessary if I wanted to sell the current series of books -- and I have to say that overall it is such a pain and inconvenience, I would not advise anyone to do it unless there were truly compelling reasons for doing so.

 

[MeriPie]

I didn't realise it was complicated, just assumed you'd say, 'This name on the cover please, not that one.' How come it's inconvenient etc.?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

just assumed you'd say, 'This name on the cover please, not that one.'

Well, sure, if you simply want to use another name because it sounds prettier.

But you say you would do it because you don't want your colleagues to know that you write SF. Think about what that means. If you don't want them to know, then you have to be careful who does know. Keeping a secret over a long period of time is not as much fun as it may sound, and if you are pretending to be two different people, then you have to keep careful track of who you are supposed to be at any given moment.

On a more practical note, secrecy makes promoting your books harder. You can't do book signings where people are likely to recognize you. You can't tell everyone you know that you have a book coming out.

You have to ask yourself whether letting the people you work with know is likely to cause more problems than not letting them know.

 

[Culhwch]

I imagine it would make signings and appearances awkward, at the very least...

EDIT: Oops, cross post - I swear I wasn't just cribbing from Teresa!

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

My real name is rubbish, so I would go with a pseudonym.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I imagine it would make signings and appearances awkward, at the very least...

It certainly does make scheduling appearances awkward if there is any likelihood of an overlap between the people who might turn up at your appearances and the people you know through your other job.

(Which in my case, because my other job was also fantasy writer, was somewhere in the vicinity of 100%.)

Say you are doing an appearance at a local SF convention (which would be a good opportunity to promote your book), you would run the risk that someone who knew you from work would turn up at the hotel for some other event, or to eat in the restaurant, or to meet out-of-town friends, or ...

 

[MeriPie]

That does make a lot of sense. Ahh if only writing a book and all its gubbins were as simple as I thought it would be when I decided at age 4 to be a writer, huh?

My name's fairly common, so it would probably not cause a great deal of rumpus if I used my surname and an initial.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

One initial looks skimpy. Two or more gives an air of distinction. But yes, sticking to some version of your real name is easiest. Then if people find out, you can give them an innocent stare and say, "You mean you didn't already know?"

 

[mygoditsraining]

I can't see how anyone would have a problem with their staff having writing as a hobby, unless of course the writing reflects and draws on the job in some way, like The Sexy Exciting Adventures of a Translator.

Use a pseudonym if you like but be prepared for the eventuality that, if you do get published and become hilariously successful, you're going to be "found out".

 

[The Pelagic Argosy]

What if your real-life last name is Smith? (Mine is.)

What if you want to write in more than one genre? (At the rate I'm going, I won't have to worry about this one.)

What if one of the genres you write in is erotica?

What if you write a novel about consenting adults who like to cover themselves in maple syrup and glitter and spank each other with small animals? (Guess which is hardest to get out of your sheets: syrup, glitter, or squirrel fur? The answer might surprise you.) I wouldn't want the readers of my "serious" work to know about that, not to mention my work colleagues. I also wouldn't want PETA to come after me. Those people are crazy.

 

[MeriPie]

I'm guessing the promo work wouldn't really be very public in that particular genre... Or not, who knows?

 

[Darksaber]

I imagine it would make signings and appearances awkward, at the very least...

especially if you're a bodygaurd, and hired to protect your pseudonym...

personally i'd go for a pseudonym, as no offense to the publishing world, men tend to get more books published and read.

no idea what the pseudonym would be though.. have to be something snappy and syfy-ish

 

[MeriPie]

Or just work the initials thing. People thought JK Rowling was a man for the first couple of books.

 

[Glitch]

You could use the name you have on this forum as your pseudonym.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

as no offense to the publishing world, men tend to get more books published and read.

Not really true. It depends on what kind of books you are talking about. Women actually read more books than men do, and at least in the US romance novels outsell everything else by a very large margin. For romance, it has to be a woman's name on the cover, just as, if you are writing thrillers, an overtly masculine name is practically a requirement. If you are writing hard SF, then an androgynous name could still be an advantage. For soft SF (for instance, a story based on alien cultures as opposed to technology or hard science) it doesn't matter nearly so much as it once did and many female writers have enjoyed great success. For fantasy it's not a significant handicap, and for certain types of Fantasy a female name would actually work in the writer's favor. (When I chose my pseudonym, I suggested some names that were ambiguous as to gender, and my editor shot all of them down.)

If you are choosing a pen-name, it is better to do some research than to make assumptions that may be based on limited information or out-dated ideas.

As for J.K. Rowling, because the Harry Potter books were written for children and young adults, she would not have been handicapped at all by a feminine-sounding name. Actually, it would probably be an advantage, so I suspect she went with the initials for some other reason entirely.

 

[MeriPie]

I read in an interview absolutely donkey's years ago that it was because her publishers told her that male writers sell more books.